New Zealand Not the First to Legalize Paid Leave For Miscarriages

Last week, mainstream news platforms such as The Washington Post, CNN, and the BBC picked up a story that New Zealand had passed a law that would provide paid leave for miscarriages. Headlines accompanied the news with claims that New Zealand was one of the first countries to do so. While most journalists were careful to acknowledge that the law was “among the first” instead of the first, some readers assumed the latter, and praised New Zealand for setting an example for the world. 

Other social media users began to assert that these stories were misleading, and that reports overlooked other countries who already uphold similar laws.